Tag Archives: Bible

Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – The God of the Here and Now

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Read: John 11:1-54

Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:21-26)

Martha greets Jesus with a phrase that must have been frequently on all of their lips when Lazarus was sick: Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died. I do not believe this is a word of reproach. Martha is not saying, Lord, why didn’t you come sooner? We sent for you. If you had responded we wouldn’t be in this pickle. It is clear that she realizes the message did not reach him until Lazarus was dead. There was no way he could have responded and gotten there before Lazarus died. Martha’s word is not one of reproach, but rather one of regret: Lord, I wish you could have been here, because if you had, my brother would not have died.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – The Way Back

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Read: Matthew 7:13-14

Enter through the narrow gate. (v. 13 NIV)

We can know that we know Christ by the fruit of obedience. But what if there is little fruit? I can hear someone say, “I felt like a failure before; now I feel afraid. What do I do with Jesus’ challenging words?” Listen to the good news before and after the frightening words of Matthew 7:23—there is a way back and a way forward.

If you are unsure that you know Christ and that he knows you, you can go back. Here’s how: “Enter through the narrow gate.” There’s a wide gate that anyone can go through. It is the way of the world, the way of the immoral majority. It’s easy and smooth, and it leads to destruction. But there is one narrow gate that leads to life. What is that gate? Listen to Jesus in John 10: “I am the gate for the sheep . . . . Whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture . . . . I lay down my life for the sheep” (vv. 7, 9, 15 NIV).

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Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; H.L.M. – The Father’s Voice

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Christian comedian Michael Jr. is used to commanding an audience’s attention. Yet he didn’t expect the reception he got from his newborn daughter. Shortly after her birth, the baby was wailing loudly. Suddenly, she stopped crying when she heard Michael’s voice. Then when she became upset later, he told her, “I love you.” In response, she not only stopped crying, but opened her beautiful eyes. “We’ll always have times when we’re not as comfortable…where life is just heavy,” Michael said. “The key thing to do in those moments is to be still and listen for the Father’s voice. Because He is trying to talk to you. And I can tell you what He wants you to know is that He loves you. All you got to do is open your eyes.”

Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always.

Proverbs 28:14

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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – A Great Ending

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Finishing is better than starting. Patience is better than pride. —Ecclesiastes 7:8

The Bible is filled with stories of people who started well but finished horribly, like King Saul and Samson. Then there are those who started poorly but finished well.

Think of Nicodemus, whom we read about in John 3. He was just a guy coming to Jesus at night with some questions. There is no indication that he was a believer at that point. But at the end of the Gospel narrative, after Christ had been crucified, who stepped forward publicly, along with Joseph of Arimathea, and asked for Jesus’ body to give Him a proper burial? It was Nicodemus the Pharisee. Maybe he didn’t start all that well, but he ended very well.

The same could be said of Esther. We can argue as to whether Esther should have been upfront from the beginning about being a Jew when she was chosen by King Xerxes to be the new queen. But if the king knew she was a Jew, maybe he never would have married her. And if he hadn’t married her, maybe she wouldn’t have been in a position to save a nation. But even if Esther made a mistake initially, even if she compromised, even if she may not have started all that well, she finished very well.

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Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God “Picks” Workers According to His Own Wisdom and Power

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“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)

If you were picking players for a basketball team, you would probably not pick Evan. Evan is short, slow, and not very smart. He misses most of the shots he takes, and he sometimes actually just drops the basketball. Evan is usually the last person to be picked for any kinds of sports team – if he even gets picked at all.

The Bible tells us that God has chosen “foolish things” and “weak things” to accomplish His work. Evan is not very smart, and he is not very strong, but God has chosen Evan to be His child. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, God has chosen you to shame those who are smart and strong in ways the world values.

God does great things through people who love Him. When He does those great things, He doesn’t want His people to say, “Look what I did because I am smart!” He wants them to say, “Look what God did.” God chooses people who are not necessarily smart or strong so that they will know that God is great, and they are not.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Justice Honored

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Today’s Scripture: Hebrews 9:27

“It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.”

All of us will eventually face judgment before a holy and just God. As we think of that inevitable day, do we want to see justice done, or mercy? Except for the most arrogantly self-righteous among us, we would all hope for mercy. Here, however, is our dilemma: God’s justice is certain, and it is inflexible.

Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8, “God is just: he will pay back. he will punish those who do not know God” (NIV). And in Romans 12:19: “?t is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (NIV). Though often delayed, God’s justice is nonetheless certain. Justice may be defined as rendering to everyone according to one’s due.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Damage Control

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Today’s Scripture: Numbers 5-8

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. – Ephesians 4:31-32

In Numbers 5-8 the Lord establishes certain laws for the removal of anything that is unclean from the place where the people are camped. This has a powerful application for you and me in our daily walk of discipleship. One of the most urgent matters we face every day is the removal of anything in our lives that might hinder our fellowship with Christ and ruin our testimony before others.

Some years ago, a violent windstorm caused great damage to the city of Colorado Springs. It broke windows, loosened shingles, and tore down electrical lines. A friend of mine and his wife were driving home from church the next morning when they saw a tree that everyone in the city had admired for its greatness and beauty. It had stood in splendor for years. Now it was flat on the ground. Then my friends noticed that the trunk was hollow.

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BreakPoint

BreakPoint –  The Indictment of David Daleiden: The Culture of Death Shoots the Messenger

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As you’ve probably heard, a grand jury in Houston Texas, originally tasked with investigating Planned Parenthood’s possible involvement in the sale of fetal tissue and body parts, has decided to instead to shoot the messenger.

Well, not exactly “shoot,” but something almost as inappropriate. The Harris County grand jury indicted both David R. Daleiden, the founder of the Center for Medical Progress, and his colleague Sandra Merritt, for “tampering with a government record.” Daleiden has also been charged with a misdemeanor related to the attempt to purchase human organs.

The first indictment is in connection with Daleiden’s and Merritt’s alleged use of fake California driver’s licenses to gain access to the various Planned Parenthood facilities. The second indictment is based on an email that Daleiden allegedly sent, offering to buy fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood.

To put it very mildly, what happened in Houston was ironic. While Daleiden’s actions amount to a prima facie – the legal phrase meaning “at first glance” – violation of Texas law, no one believes he intended to buy fetal tissue. His and Merritt’s goal was to expose those who profit from this gruesome practice.

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Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – SHUNNING SHAME

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Read Hebrews 11:39-12:6

Superheroes have never been more popular. Comic book sales are the highest they’ve been in decades; superhero movies make millions of dollars, and superhero television shows have millions of viewers. People love to imagine a character with extraordinary abilities who is not constrained by gravity or fire or limited strength like the rest of us mortals.

We might be tempted to think of the people listed in Hebrews 11 as superheroes of faith. But a closer look at their stories in other parts of Scripture reveals that they struggled with fear, doubt, and susceptibility to shame just as we do. They were human beings just like us, and they looked ahead to a reward so valuable that they persevered in focusing on and trusting God.

These individuals are included in this passage as examples of faith not because of their personal accomplishments but due to their belief in what God would accomplish for them. They fixed their eyes on that prize and ran for it, even as the world unleashed its abuse, degradation, mockery, and rejection. Their very refusal to succumb to shame put their enemies to shame. In God’s opinion, the world wasn’t worthy of them.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – PRINCIPAL DIES SAVING THE CHILDREN SHE SERVED

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Susan Jordan was principal of an elementary school in Indianapolis for twenty-two years. Tuesday she was standing outside with her students when a stationary school bus inexplicably accelerated and jumped a curb. She pushed several students out of the way before the vehicle struck and killed her. A fire department spokeswoman said, “Up to the minute she was alive, she was helping the kids.”

Her superintendent said of her, “Quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about a legend.” He described Jordan as “a phenomenal individual that truly cared about children.” Last May, dozens of students, faculty, and staff made a video about her. The students called her “friendly, focused, smart, organized, inspirational, dependable, determined, positive, and awesome.” The district closed all schools yesterday in her memory.

When the bus careened toward her students, Susan Jordan didn’t have time to decide whether she would risk her life for them. In that moment, her reaction revealed the sacrificial commitment she had already made.

Like her, the time for us to decide our life priorities is before they are tested. Only then can we be ready for challenges when they come.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Overcoming Insecurity

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Romans 8:33-39

No quick solution exists for overcoming insecurity. First, we have to acknowledge we feel insecure. Then, we should try to identify what generates those feelings. Finally, we must decide to overcome that state of mind. Drifting into security is impossible; we must work toward it.

Having a sense of security involves more than just building self-esteem. Jesus Christ is our genuine source of strength and confidence. If we attempt to overcome our insecurity without Him, we’ll simply be masking it with our own efforts.

The way we see ourselves isn’t necessarily the way we truly are. Instead, we have to ask how the Lord sees us. To shift our focus from ourselves and our mistakes, we must get into God’s Word. Therefore, to overcome insecurity, we must first deal with any doubts we may have about the Bible. Scripture is so powerful that when we read what God says about us, our thinking starts to change, and we can step out of insecurity’s destructive mindset.

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — What Is It?

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Read: Exodus 16:11-31

Bible in a Year: Exodus 16-18; Matthew 18:1-20

When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” —Exodus 16:15

My mother taught Sunday school for decades. One week she wanted to explain how God supplied food for the Israelites in the wilderness. To make the story come alive, she created something to represent “manna” for the kids in her class. She cut bread into small pieces and topped them with honey. Her recipe was inspired by the Bible’s description of manna that says it “tasted like wafers made with honey” (Ex. 16:31).

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Strength for Today – Trusting in God’s Power

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“I pray that … you may know … the surpassing greatness of [God’s] power toward us who believe” (Eph. 1:18-19).

The same divine power that created, sustains, and controls the universe secures your salvation.

God’s power is awesome! David wrote, “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Thine is the dominion, O Lord, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from Thee, and Thou dost rule over all, and in Thy hand is power and might; and it lies in Thy hand to make great, and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee, and praise Thy glorious name” (1 Chron.29:11-13).

In Ephesians 1:19 Paul focuses on one key feature of God’s power: His ability to secure the salvation of His people. And he prays for you to understand the surpassing greatness of that truth.

The Greek word translated “power” is dunamis, from which we get dynamite and dynamo. This power is active, dynamic, and compelling—and it is mightily at work on your behalf. You might not always sense it, but it’s there nonetheless.

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Value Virtue 

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Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:13-14

Those who criticize the Christian ethos as outdated, narrow minded and meddling, forget that the virtues they seek to marginalize are a timeless value system that provides them the freedoms they enjoy. Yes, freedom of speech is a freedom only exercised where liberty has been bought by blood and retained by virtuous living. One generation can quickly forget past generational struggles and sacrifices that developed present day prosperity. Devalued virtue leads to decadence. But, a culture that values virtue expands liberty and creates opportunities for all.

Scripture identifies virtue as the very heart of God: patient forgiveness bound together by love’s unifying perfection. The Lord’s ultimate virtue was the payment of His son Jesus on the cross in exchange for the sins of the human race. Love gives. Love forgives. Love unifies. Voices that dismiss Christian virtues are not motivated by love, but by selfish agendas. A life behaving badly looks for ways to justify their disingenuous actions. However, a life that values virtue seeks to know God and grow in His heart of love. Virtue’s value is defined by the inordinate price paid by God.

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Stand Guard, Stand Firm

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So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah.

Nehemiah 4:16

Recommended Reading

Nehemiah 4:15-23

In September 2015, one of America’s largest evangelical seminaries refused future employment to a faculty member whose views on marriage and sexuality differed from Jesus’ teachings in Scripture. Imagine the months of research, deliberations, prayer, and counting of costs involved in such a decision. But in the end only one thing mattered: What saith the Lord?

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Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Retire from Self-Care

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. . . Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ [give yourself up to Him, take yourself out of your own keeping and entrust yourself into His keeping] and you will be saved. —Acts 16:31

God wants to take care of you, and He can do a much better job of it if you will avoid a problem called independence, which is really self-care.

The desire to take care of yourself is based on fear. You are afraid of what might happen if you entrust yourself totally to God and He doesn’t come through for you. The root problem of independence is, you trust yourself more than you trust God.

People love to have a backup plan. You may ask God to get involved in your life, but if He doesn’t respond as quickly as you’d like, you take control back into your own hands.

But God has a plan for you—and His plan is much better than yours. So give yourself to Him and see what happens.

From the book Ending Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – When God Says Go

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Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged

Joshua 8:1

Friend to Friend

We see a vibrant example of courage and obedience in the book and life of Joshua. He served humbly and faithfully in the shadow of Moses until the Lord took Moses home and chose Joshua to be the next leader His people.

I’d be shaking in my size 10s if I had to fill the sandals of Moses! I’m sure that in his humanness Joshua was intimidated too, but he was well trained because he had served under Moses for 40 years. I mean – he wasn’t exactly a spring chicken when God gave him His incredible I-made-you-for-greatness and I’ve-got-your-back motivational talk.

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – He Orders Your Steps

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“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way” (Psalm 37:23, KJV).

Miriam Booth – a beautiful, brilliant, cultured woman – daughter of the Salvation Army founder, began her Christian work with great promise. She had unusual success. Before long, however, disease struck her and brought her to the point of death. A friend visiting her one day said it seemed a pity that a woman so capable should be hindered by illness from doing the Lord’s work. “It is great to do the Lord’s work,” she replied with gentle grace, “but it is greater to do the Lord’s will.”

Are you looking for direction, for purpose, for meaning to your life?

The psalmist wanted to make it very plain that the person who is “good,” the one who is clothed with the righteousness, the goodness of Christ, can have the absolute assurance that His steps, one by one, moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, are ordered by the Lord (planned and directed by Him).

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – True Security

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Read: John 10:22-42

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27-29)

How can you tell a true Christian? Jesus says, They follow me. That is, they obey Jesus; they do what he commands. This does not mean that they always do so instantaneously, without struggle. All of us struggle at times with what our Lord says; all of us resist at times. Sometimes the word needs to be brought clearly and sharply into focus in our life. But the point of it is, once we see what Jesus wants, the attitude of a true sheep is, Lord, even though it hurts, even though it costs, I will do what you say. I will follow you.

Why do sheep act this way? What has made the difference? Three things: First, Jesus says, I give unto them eternal life. That is stated in the present indicative tense: I keep on giving to them eternal life. What holds us to Jesus? It is the life he gives, the peace, the joy, the love that we feel, the sense of inner serenity, the forgiveness, the sense of belonging and being guarded and kept and loved, that is what brings us. It is a quality of life which comes so continually to us that we would give up anything else rather than give that up. We are drawn because he keeps on giving us life, eternal life, God’s kind of life.

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Words of Hope

Words of Hope – Daily Devotional – The Fruit of Faith

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Read: Matthew 7:15-20

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. (v. 20 NIV)

Jesus’ strong words in Matthew 7:21 may sound like salvation by works, but Jesus didn’t mean that. We are saved not by our obedience, but by Christ’s. We must simply trust him as Savior and Lord.

What Jesus meant is that trusting involves obeying. Or as he puts it in our reading for today, obedience is the natural fruit of faith in Jesus as Lord. When your faith in Christ yields the fruit of obedience, you know that you know Christ. The proof is in the doing.

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